1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to container handles, specifically to a handle which can hold a separate flashlight and, at the carrier's option, illuminate either the carrier's path and immediate area or the interior of the container.
2. Description Of Prior Art
At any given moment, one-half of the earth's surface is in the dark. People who must carry things at night--fishermen with tackle boxes, sportsmen with cooler chests, tradesmen with tool boxes, paramedics with emergency equipment--often have both hands filled and find it difficult to carry an additional light.
The battery powered flashlight is well known. Usually, when such a flashlight was added to a container it was made an integral part of the unit to illuminate its exterior, such as the THERMO LIGHT at U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,566, its interior, such as the LIGHTED TACKLE BOX at U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,733, or both the exterior and the interior, such as the ILLUMINATED FISHING TACKLE BOX at U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,132.
There are a number of disadvantages in making the light a part of the container. Such an installation makes the container more complicated to produce and needlessly expensive for those consumers who do not require illumination. The necessary batteries occupy needed space inside the container. Worst of all, the flashlight cannot be used apart from the container.